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Why Ayurveda Pays Attention to What Makes You Feel Better (and Worse)

Have you ever noticed that a particular kind of food makes you feel uncomfortable, leaves you feeling heavy while something else seems easy and light to your stomach? Or that a certain activity makes a recurring ache worse, even though you cannot quite explain why? We usually treat these observations as little things. We notice them, make a mental note and move on. But in Ayurveda, they can be important clues. There is a concept called Upashaya, which describes the relief experienced through certain foods or activities. Its counterpart, Anupashaya, refers to factors that aggravate a condition rather than relieve it. What I find interesting about this idea is that Ayurveda does not look only at what a person is experiencing. It also pays attention to how the person responds to different things. And that tells us something about how the Ayurvedic approach to diagnosis works. A symptom is only one part of the picture Imagine two people who both complain of abdominal discomfort. The symptom sounds similar, but the reasons behind it may be quite different. One person’s discomfort might be associated with certain eating habits. Another person’s symptoms may have a different underlying pattern altogether. Simply knowing that both people experience discomfort does not tell us enough. A physician needs to understand the circumstances in which the symptom appears, what makes it worse, what seems to relieve it and how the condition has developed over time. This is where Upashaya becomes useful. In the Charaka Samhita, the understanding of a disease is built through five important aspects, collectively known as Nidana Panchaka: Nidana: The causes or factors responsible for the condition. Purvarupa: The early signs that appear before the disease becomes fully developed. Rupa: The symptoms and signs of the disease. Upashaya: Factors that bring relief and help clarify the condition. Samprapti: The process through which the disease develops. Notice that Upashaya is included alongside the causes, early signs and symptoms. Relief is not treated as an incidental observation. It is one of the things that can help a physician understand what is happening. What exactly is Upashaya? The word Upashaya is generally understood in the context of relief or pacification. In Charaka Samhita, Nidana Sthana, Chapter 1, Verse 10, Upashaya is explained through the use of three broad things: Aushadha (medicines), Ahara (food) and Vihara (activities or lifestyle practices). The important point is that these factors may bring relief by working against the cause of a condition, the condition itself, or through an indirect effect. For example, imagine a person whose discomfort is aggravated by cold exposure and seems to improve with appropriate warmth. That response may offer a clue about the nature of the condition. It does not automatically establish a diagnosis. It becomes one piece of information that the physician considers alongside everything else. And this is important: Upashaya is not simply about finding something that makes a person feel better. It is also about understanding why that particular intervention might be helping. And what happens when something makes it worse? This brings us to Anupashaya. If Upashaya refers to relief, Anupashaya describes the opposite: a factor that aggravates symptoms or makes a condition less comfortable. The Ashtanga Hridayam, Nidana Sthana, Chapter 1, discusses this relationship between factors that provide relief and those that aggravate a condition. Think about how differently people respond to the same activity. Something that feels comfortable for one person may make another person’s symptoms worse. Even within the same person, the response may change depending on the condition and its stage. This is why a physician may ask questions beyond the usual description of symptoms: Does the discomfort increase after a particular activity? Does it settle with rest? Does a certain kind of food seem to aggravate it? Has anything consistently made it better? These questions help build a more complete picture. The response to an intervention is not always straightforward, either. Something may offer temporary relief without addressing the underlying problem. That distinction matters. Relief can help distinguish conditions that look similar One of the most interesting uses of Upashaya is in understanding conditions that present with similar symptoms. Two disorders may appear alike at first. Their symptoms may overlap, and simply looking at them may not be enough to distinguish one from the other. But the way they respond to certain factors may be different. This gives the physician another way to investigate the condition. Instead of relying only on the symptoms themselves, they can consider the response to carefully selected interventions. It is a little like gathering additional clues. One observation may not tell you the whole story, but several observations, considered together, can make the picture clearer. This also explains why Ayurveda places importance on taking a detailed history. The questions a physician asks are not just formalities. They help establish patterns that may otherwise go unnoticed. Why this way of observing the body still matters We live in a time when it is easy to look up a symptom online and find a list of possible explanations. We also tend to look for quick solutions: something to stop the discomfort, something to make the symptom disappear. But relief and understanding are not necessarily the same thing. A symptom becoming less noticeable does not always mean that its cause has been addressed. Similarly, a temporary response to a food, medicine or activity should not be treated as proof of a particular diagnosis. The concept of Upashaya reminds us that the body’s responses deserve attention. What happens before a symptom appears, what changes it and what follows after an intervention can all be useful information. Of course, this does not mean experimenting with medicines or deliberately exposing yourself to things that worsen your symptoms. These… Continue reading Why Ayurveda Pays Attention to What Makes You Feel Better (and Worse)

Why Ayurveda Divides Human Life Into Three Stages: Understanding Vaya

Have you ever looked at an old photograph of yourself and wondered how different you were back then? Not just how you looked, but how you lived. How much energy you had, how quickly you recovered after a long day, the things you enjoyed eating, the way you slept and even how you thought about the world. As we grow older, a lot of things change. Some changes are obvious, like our physical appearance. Others happen so gradually that we barely notice them. Ayurveda has always considered age an important factor when understanding a person’s health. In fact, the classical texts don’t look at the human body as something that remains the same throughout life. They describe different stages of life, each with its own characteristics, strengths and requirements. This is explained through a concept called Vaya. And Ayurveda connects these stages with the three Doshas: Kapha, Pitta and Vata. Let’s understand what this means. What is Vaya in Ayurveda? Vaya refers to age or the different stages through which a person progresses during their lifetime. In Charaka Samhita, Acharya Charaka explains that age is broadly divided into three stages: Bala: Childhood Madhya: Middle age Jirna: Old age But this isn’t simply a classification based on the number of years a person has lived. Charaka also considers what happens to the body during these stages. How the tissues develop, how strength changes, how the senses function and how our mental faculties evolve. And this is where the three Doshas become important. Ayurveda associates childhood with Kapha, adulthood with Pitta and old age with Vata. Let’s look at each stage individually. Bala Avastha: The stage of childhood (Kapha predominance) The first stage is Bala Avastha, or childhood. If you think about the way a child grows, you’ll notice how much development happens during these years. The body is constantly changing. Bones develop, muscles grow, the sense organs mature and the child gradually acquires new abilities. Even the way children learn and understand things changes significantly as they grow. Ayurveda associates this stage with Kapha Dosha. Now, why Kapha? Think about the qualities of Kapha: stability, heaviness, structure, nourishment and growth. These qualities are closely associated with the development and formation of bodily tissues. In Ayurveda, Kapha is considered particularly important during childhood because this is the stage when the body is still developing. Charaka describes childhood as a period in which the Dhatus, or bodily tissues, are not yet fully mature. Physical strength is still developing, and the body is comparatively delicate. This is also why Ayurvedic texts emphasise appropriate nourishment and care during childhood. A child’s requirements are not the same as those of an adult. Their food, sleep, physical activity and overall routine need to support the process of growth. Madhya Avastha: The stage of adulthood (Pitta predominance) The second stage is Madhya Avastha, which broadly refers to adulthood and middle age. This is generally considered the stage when the body has developed its strength and the different tissues have reached maturity. Charaka describes this period as one in which physical strength, energy, understanding, memory, retention and other faculties are well developed. And this stage is associated with Pitta Dosha. Pitta is connected with transformation, digestion, metabolism and the processing of different substances. The qualities associated with Pitta are heat, sharpness and transformation. These are traditionally understood as important qualities during the stage of life when the body is at its functional maturity. This is also the period when people generally take on greater responsibilities. Work, relationships, family, ambitions and the demands of everyday life begin occupying a significant part of their attention. The body has developed, its capacities are more established, and the individual is navigating a different set of demands. But there’s another interesting detail here. Charaka describes the period up to thirty years as a phase during which the bodily tissues are still developing, even though childhood, in the narrower sense, is described as lasting until sixteen. So, the transition from childhood to adulthood isn’t treated as an overnight change. Development continues beyond the early years. Jirna Avastha: The stage of old age (Vata predominance) And finally, we come to Jirna Avastha, or old age. This is the stage when the body gradually begins experiencing changes associated with ageing. The strength that we once took for granted may not remain the same. Recovery may take longer, the sense organs may become less sharp, and physical endurance may gradually decline. Charaka describes this stage as one in which the Dhatus, strength, energy, sensory abilities, memory, retention and other faculties undergo gradual diminution. This stage is associated with Vata Dosha. And when you think about the qualities of Vata, the connection becomes interesting. Vata is associated with movement, dryness, lightness, roughness and variability. Ayurveda relates these qualities to several changes that occur during ageing. For instance, dryness of the skin, reduced physical strength, changes in mobility and the gradual decline of certain bodily functions are discussed in the context of Vata predominance. The body may not respond to everything in the same way it did earlier in life. And the idea is not to fight every change that comes with ageing, but to understand the changing needs of the body and care for it accordingly. Does this mean everyone ages in exactly the same way? Not necessarily. Your constitution, environment, lifestyle, health and several other factors influence how you experience these stages. However the larger principle remains the same: the body changes with age, and our approach to maintaining health should take those changes into consideration. What can we learn from this? We often follow the same… Continue reading Why Ayurveda Divides Human Life Into Three Stages: Understanding Vaya

Why Ayurveda Considers Mental Health Part of Physical Health: Understanding the Mind-Body Connection

Have you ever noticed how your body reacts when you’re going through a particularly stressful period? You might find yourself sleeping poorly, losing your appetite, experiencing headaches or feeling unusually tired. Sometimes, even a perfectly normal day can feel physically exhausting when your mind isn’t in the right place. And it works the other way around too. When you’re unwell, physically exhausted or dealing with persistent discomfort, your mood and ability to think clearly can take a hit. We often talk about physical health and mental health as though they are two completely separate things. We have one set of habits for keeping our bodies healthy and another for taking care of our minds. But Ayurveda approaches this relationship quite differently. In fact, the Ayurvedic texts consider the body and mind so closely connected that understanding one without considering the other gives us only part of the picture. Let’s understand how. Does Ayurveda consider the mind and body separate? In Charaka Samhita, Acharya Charaka explains that life is not simply the existence of a physical body. It is a combination of four essential components: Sharira, Indriya, Sattva and Atma. These refer to the body, sense organs, mind and soul. This is an important distinction because the mind isn’t treated as something separate from the functioning of the human being. It is one of the fundamental components that make up our existence. Charaka also explains that the body and mind are both important sites of health and disease. In other words, physical disturbances can affect the mind, and disturbances of the mind can influence the body. Think about it. A person experiencing prolonged emotional distress may notice changes in their appetite, sleep, energy levels and physical comfort. Similarly, someone dealing with a long-term physical illness may experience anxiety, frustration, sadness or emotional exhaustion. This relationship between the two is something Ayurveda recognised as an important part of understanding health. The two types of Doshas Now, this is where the Ayurvedic explanation becomes particularly interesting. Most people are familiar with the three Doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These are known as the Sharirika Doshas, or the bodily Doshas, and are associated with the regulation of different physiological functions. But Ayurveda also describes another set of factors that influence the mind. These are called the Manasika Doshas, namely Rajas and Tamas. Unlike Vata, Pitta and Kapha, which are associated with the physical body, Rajas and Tamas are considered the factors responsible for disturbances in the mind. Let’s understand what they mean. Rajas: The quality of activity and movement Rajas is associated with activity, stimulation, movement and passion. It is what drives the mind towards action, desires, ambitions and attachments. In its balanced expression, activity and motivation are necessary for everyday functioning. We need to be interested in things, pursue our goals and engage with the world around us. But when Rajas becomes excessive, the mind may become restless, agitated and constantly occupied. Think about those days when your mind simply refuses to slow down. You keep thinking about unfinished work, worrying about things that haven’t happened yet, jumping from one thought to another and finding it difficult to sit quietly. You might be physically exhausted, but mentally, you feel as though you haven’t stopped moving. This is the kind of excessive activity associated with Rajas. Tamas: The quality of inertia and heaviness Tamas is associated with heaviness, inertia, darkness and inactivity. It is important to understand that Tamas isn’t inherently bad. A certain degree of rest, stability and inactivity is necessary for life. However, when Tamas becomes dominant, it can interfere with the normal functioning of the mind. Think about the feeling of being mentally stuck. You know there are things you need to do, but you cannot seem to gather the motivation to begin. You feel unusually dull, disconnected or uninterested in things that would normally engage you. This excessive inertia is associated with Tamas. And what about Sattva? While Rajas and Tamas are considered the Manasika Doshas, Ayurveda describes Sattva as the quality associated with clarity, balance and knowledge. A mind in which Sattva is predominant is described as being more stable, clear and capable of understanding things without being excessively influenced by agitation or inertia. This is why Sattva is considered particularly important in the Ayurvedic understanding of mental well-being. The idea isn’t to eliminate activity or rest from our lives. Both are necessary. It is about maintaining a state in which neither excessive agitation nor excessive inertia takes over the mind. Can the mind influence the physical body? Absolutely. Charaka explains that the body follows the mind, and the mind follows the body. Think about what happens when you’re constantly worried about something. You might find yourself sleeping less, eating irregularly or experiencing changes in your daily routine. Over time, these changes can affect your physical well-being too. Similarly, prolonged emotional distress can influence how we experience physical discomfort and how well we cope with illness. The reverse is equally important. Someone dealing with chronic pain, persistent digestive problems or a long-term illness may find that their mental well-being is affected by the physical condition. This is why treating the body without considering the person’s mental state, or discussing mental well-being without considering physical health, can leave important aspects of the person’s experience unaddressed. So, how does Ayurveda approach mental well-being? The classical texts discuss several approaches to maintaining and supporting mental health. One particularly interesting concept is Satvavajaya Chikitsa. It is described as one of the approaches to treatment in Ayurveda and involves regulating the mind by helping a person withdraw from or redirect their attention away… Continue reading Why Ayurveda Considers Mental Health Part of Physical Health: Understanding the Mind-Body Connection

What is Agni and Why Every Disease Starts Here?

Once you start understanding Ayurveda and spend enough time studying it, you will slowly realize that almost every chronic disease somehow comes back to one thing: Agni. Even if you are completely new to Ayurveda, you have probably heard this word before. Most people know Agni as “digestive fire.” Something related to the stomach. Something related to appetite. Something related to food. But it is much bigger than that. Agni is transformation itself. This is the simplest way to understand it. The food we eat must transform into energy. Energy must transform into tissues. Tissues must transform into strength, immunity, and vitality. This entire process depends on Agni. And when this transformation starts becoming weak, disturbed, irregular, or excessive, disease slowly begins developing over time. Ayurveda gives Agni such importance because digestion is not just about comfort after meals. It is about the body’s ability to process everything it receives. If food is not properly transformed, it does not become proper nourishment. Instead, it can remain partially digested and create strain in the system. Over time, this can weaken the tissues, disturb the doshas, and reduce vitality. And honestly, many times the disturbance starts much before reports become abnormal. The body always gives signals first. Loss of appetite. Bloating. Brain fog. Heaviness. Fatigue. Coated tongue. Irregular bowel movements. In Ayurveda, we do not ignore these small signs because these are often the earliest indications that Agni is struggling. Ama. Ama is one of the most misunderstood concepts in Ayurveda. People often translate Ama simply as “toxins.” But honestly, Ama is much more complex than that. Ama is anything that the body could not properly digest, process, or eliminate. Improperly digested food can become Ama. Poor lifestyle habits can contribute to Ama. Even unresolved emotions and chronic stress can create imbalance in the system. Ayurveda describes Ama as: heavy, sticky, obstructive, clouding. And clinically, this description makes a lot of sense. When digestion weakens, the body slowly loses efficiency. Channels become blocked. Inflammation increases. Metabolism slows down. Energy decreases. Tissues stop functioning optimally. Then disease begins expressing itself differently in different people. In one person it may become a skin disorder. In another, hormonal imbalance. In someone else, autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue, joint pain, or metabolic disorders. The disease names may change. But internally, disturbed Agni and Ama are often present somewhere in the background. This is one reason Ayurveda places so much importance on digestion. One thing I find fascinating is that Ayurveda does not see digestion as only stomach digestion. Even the mind digests. Have you noticed how stress affects your stomach? How anxiety changes appetite? How grief can make digestion weak? That is not a coincidence, it is Agni at work. Ayurveda recognised this long before we had the words “gut-brain axis.” Vagbhata, in the Nidana Sthana of Ashtanga Hridaya, says that all diseases arise from impaired Agni. All of them. Not some. Not a few. All. Which means something very important. If we keep chasing the disease name and ignore Agni, we are only managing what is visible. The root is still sitting there. This is why we built the Agni Awakening Programme For the last fifteen years, I have been treating patients across the world. And the pattern is the same. People come with different diagnoses. High cholesterol. Insulin resistance. High HbA1c. Hormonal issues. Skin problems. Fatigue. But when we sit down and actually look, the story underneath is almost always Agni. So we stopped treating it as an add-on. We built an entire three-month programme around it. What the programme is? The Agni Awakening Programme is a three-month, physician-led Ayurvedic programme. I want to emphasize, it is not a detox, not a quick reset. Because Agni does not break in a weekend, and it does not heal in one. What happens inside it? First, we assess you. A full consultation. Your constitution, your digestion, your sleep, your routine, your reports. We identify which state your Agni is in, because that decides everything that follows. Second, we correct with food. This is the heart of the programme. Food is the first medicine in Ayurveda, and in our programme it is not an afterthought. We advise food-based medicines, meal timing, what to eat, what to avoid, and how to eat. When you correct this much with food, your dependence on medicines becomes much lesser. Third, we rebuild your routine and sleep. Agni follows rhythm. Irregular meals, late nights and constant stress put out the fire faster than any food ever will. So we work on your daily routine, your sleep and your lifestyle, step by step, in a way you can actually keep doing. Because anything you cannot sustain will not heal you. Fourth, where needed, we use Ayurvedic therapies. This is where procedures like Virechana and Panchakarma come in. Please understand this clearly. They are not given to everyone. They are given when your assessment says you need them. Virechana is a medical procedure. It is not a laxative and it is not a cleanse. It needs preparation before and a careful return to food after, and certain conditions, including pregnancy, are classical contraindications. If someone offers you panchakarma without first assessing you, walk away. Fifth, we follow you through it. Three months means three months of guidance, not a plan handed over on day one and forgotten. I will not tell you the programme cures disease. When patients with high cholesterol, high fasting sugar and high HbA1c improve, it is not one… Continue reading What is Agni and Why Every Disease Starts Here?

The Brihatrayi Explained: Ayurveda’s Three Foundational Texts

I always talk about principles mentioned in Charaka Samhita or Ashtanga Hridayam, in my videos, in my blogs, quoting a verse or referencing a concept but I’ve actually never spoken about these texts themselves. So today, let’s talk about them. Ayurveda, as a whole, is built upon three foundational texts. Together, they’re literally called the Brihatrayi, which means “the great three.” These are Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, and Ashtanga Hridayam. And honestly, once you understand how different these three actually are from each other, in purpose and what they were even trying to accomplish, a lot of Ayurveda starts making more sense. Let’s start with Charaka Samhita. The Charaka Samhita was originally attributed to Agnivesha, the sage who is said to have written this work, then called Agnivesha Tantra, under the guidance of his teacher Punarvasu Atreya. Charaka is mostly credited for revising and redacting the original text into what we mostly study today. Rather than being written by one person, this text has been passed down, and is a result of multiple hands across generations. Even a scholar named Dridhabala completed large portions of the text that had been lost. So, this text was compiled and edited over a long stretch of time. Charaka’s text is essentially the foundation of internal medicine, what we call Kayachikitsa. If you want to understand disease from the inside out, digestion, the Doshas, how illness actually develops in the body, this is your primary source. There’s a well-known opening line in the text, “Aayuh kaamayamaanena dharmaartha sukha saadhanam,” which basically says that anyone who desires a long, healthy life, one that supports Dharma, Artha, and Sukha, should give their full attention to the teachings of Ayurveda. Even in that first line, you can sense the scope Charaka is working with, health isn’t the goal in itself, it’s the foundation everything else in life is built on. And Charaka doesn’t just impose his own teachings on us, but also gives us the room to debate, question, and walk us through multiple viewpoints, sometimes even contradicting opinions, before settling on a conclusion. So instead of sounding like a rule book, it reads like an actual academic argument that happened about 2000 years ago. The book is dense, thorough, and keeps its essence very clear. There’s also a beautiful line often quoted from this text, describing exactly what the science is for, “Swasthasya swasthya rakshanam, aaturasya vikaara prashamanam cha.” It means, to protect the health of the healthy, and to cure the disease of the unwell. Two goals, not one, prevention and cure. Sushruta Samhita takes a very different path. Sushruta Samhita is attributed to Sushruta, a physician-surgeon who is said to have studied under Divodasa Dhanvantari, the King of Kashi, considered an incarnation of Dhanvantari, the god of medicine, in the Ayurvedic tradition. Sushruta is believed to have practised and taught in Kashi, which is present-day Varanasi. Just like Charaka Samhita, this text also wasn’t the work of one person alone. It’s widely believed that the original text was later revised by a scholar named Nagarjuna, who is credited with adding to and reorganising portions of it. So again, what we study today is the result of layers, added over generations, rather than a single sitting of writing. What makes Sushruta Samhita stand apart is its focus. If Charaka is the foundation of internal medicine, Sushruta is the foundation of surgery, what’s called Shalya Tantra. This is the text that goes into real detail about surgical instruments, wound management, and procedures like cataract surgery and reconstructive techniques. Then comes Ashtanga Hridayam, written later by Vagbhata, and honestly, this is the one most people find easiest to start with. Ashtanga Hridayam literally means “the heart of the eight branches,” and that name tells you exactly what it’s structured around. The text is organised into the eight branches of Ayurveda, Kayachikitsa (internal medicine), Shalya Tantra (surgery), Shalakya Tantra (diseases of the eyes, ears, nose, and throat), Kaumarabhritya (paediatrics), Agada Tantra (toxicology), Bhuta Vidya (psychiatry, dealing with what were understood as mental and spirit-related disorders), Rasayana (rejuvenation therapy), and Vajikarana (the science of fertility and vitality). Within this, the text is further divided into six sections, or Sthanas. Sutrasthana lays out the foundational principles, this is where Dinacharya, daily routine, and Ritucharya, seasonal routine are spoken about. Sharirasthana covers anatomy and the non-material aspects of the body, including the self and consciousness. Nidanasthana deals with diagnosis and understanding disease. Chikitsasthana covers actual treatment protocols for specific conditions. Kalpasthana focuses on formulation and pharmacology, and Uttarasthana, the final section, circles back to cover the remaining specialised branches in more depth, eye and ENT conditions, paediatrics, toxicology, and rejuvenation therapy. You get the entire scope of Ayurveda in one organised place, which is exactly why most students, even today, start their formal education with this text. If you’d like to properly study these texts yourself, shloka by shloka, with context and explanation, that’s exactly what we go through in our Charaka Samhita and Ashtanga Hridayam courses. You can check them out here.

Waking Up in Brahma Muhurta: What Ayurveda Actually Says About Early Mornings

Have you ever noticed how waking up early is one of those things almost every Indian household seems to insist on? At some point, most of us have been told that waking up before sunrise is good for our health, even if we never really understood why. So, today, let us take a look at this and understand why. In Ayurveda, waking up early is discussed as part of Dinacharya, or daily routine. More specifically, the practice of waking up during Brahma Muhurta, the period before sunrise, is considered an important part of maintaining health. But why this particular time? What did the ancient Ayurvedic texts say about it, and is there a reason behind this recommendation beyond simply being an early riser? Let’s take a look at what Ayurveda has to say. What is Brahma Muhurta? A muhurta is a unit of time, about 48 minutes. Brahma Muhurta is traditionally understood as the last stretch of the night, roughly 96 minutes before sunrise. So, if the sun rises at 6:00 a.m. where you live, this window begins at around 4:24 a.m. and ends close to 5:12 a.m. The word Brahma here is often connected with knowledge and clarity. That’s a big part of why this time has been valued not just for health but for study, reflection and meditation. What the texts say? The Ashtanga Hridayam begins its chapter on daily routine (Dinacharya) with this line: ब्राह्मे मुहूर्ते उत्तिष्ठेत् स्वस्थो रक्षार्थमायुषः । Brāhme muhūrte uttiṣṭhet svastho rakṣārtham āyuṣaḥ. In simple terms, it says that a healthy person should get up in Brahma Muhurta to protect their life and health. Notice the word svastha, meaning a healthy person. This advice is first of all about maintaining health, not treating a disease. Ayurveda connects this early hour with qualities of lightness, stillness and clarity. The hours before sunrise are associated with Vata dosha, which is light and mobile in nature. The morning hours after sunrise are linked with Kapha, which is heavy, slow and steady. The traditional thinking is that if you rise during the lighter phase, you begin the day feeling fresher. If you sleep well into the Kapha period, you may wake up feeling heavy, groggy or sluggish. Many of us know that feeling: you sleep longer, yet you wake up more tired. Is there any science behind it? Honestly, the modern research doesn’t point to one magic hour. Studies on sleep and body clocks show that people naturally differ. Some are early birds, others are night owls, and forcing yourself against your natural rhythm isn’t always helpful. What research does support is the value of regular sleep and wake times, good sleep duration and morning light. These are fully in step with what Ayurveda is getting at: your body does better with rhythm. What you can say is that a calm, regular start to the day is something both traditions would approve of. What early mornings feel like? You don’t need a text to tell you this one. Think of the last time you woke up early, whether for a trip, a festival or an exam. The house was quiet. No messages, no traffic, no one needing anything from you. The air felt a little cooler and the mind a little less cluttered. That quietness is really what the texts are pointing to. Brahma Muhurta isn’t a magical hour. It’s the one part of the day when the world is least demanding, which makes it easier to begin without rushing. But should you wake up at 4:30? Not necessarily, and the texts themselves would agree. Ayurveda always asks you to consider the broader aspect. Your age, constitution, the season, your health and your work all matter. The advice to rise early is meant for a svastha, a healthy person with a healthy routine. It isn’t a command for everyone in every situation. So if any of these apply to you, take the idea slowly: You work night shifts or irregular hours You have a newborn or young children You’re recovering from illness, or you’re elderly or weak You’re pregnant You’re already getting less sleep than you need Waking early only helps if you’re also sleeping early enough. If you go to bed at 1 a.m. and force yourself up at 4:30, you’re not following Ayurveda. You’re just short on sleep. In fact, the classical texts treat sleep (Nidra) as one of the three pillars of life, so cutting it down defeats the purpose. How to try it, without making it painful? If the idea appeals to you, here’s a way to try it that doesn’t feel like punishment. Start with the night, not the morning. The real secret to waking up early is going to bed earlier. Move your bedtime back by 15 to 20 minutes, keep dinner light, and put the phone away a bit sooner. Shift your wake-up time slowly. If you usually wake at 7:30, try 7:10 for a few days, then 6:50. Nobody becomes a 5 a.m. person overnight, so go in small steps. Keep the first ten minutes simple. The texts describe a gentle start to the day: sip some water, wash your face, attend to the body’s natural urges and clean your mouth. Don’t rush to check messages. Let the mind settle first. Do something that feels good. A few minutes of stretching, a short walk, some breathing, or just sitting quietly with your tea. You’re building a morning you’d actually look forward to. Be consistent. Waking up at the same time most days matters more than hitting the perfect hour once in a while. The bigger picture Looking at Brahma Muhurta closely, the real lesson isn’t about the clock. It’s about how the day is meant to begin, calmly and without rush, in rhythm with… Continue reading Waking Up in Brahma Muhurta: What Ayurveda Actually Says About Early Mornings

Understanding Ayurveda: A Way of Looking at Health

One of the things I find interesting about Ayurveda is that it doesn’t begin and end with the question of what is wrong with the body. It also asks what it means for the body to function well, what helps maintain that state, and how the way we live influences our health. This might seem like an obvious distinction, but it changes the way we approach the subject. We are accustomed to thinking about health in terms of symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments. Ayurveda, while certainly concerned with the treatment of disease, also places considerable emphasis on preserving health before illness develops. This is not a new idea in medicine, of course. But in Ayurveda, the maintenance of health is the very foundation of the system. The word Ayurveda comes from two Sanskrit words Ayus, meaning life or lifespan, and Veda, meaning knowledge. It is translated as the science of life. What I find significant about this definition is its breadth. Ayurveda is not concerned exclusively with disease or the human body as an isolated biological structure. It considers the conditions that support a life of health and well-being. To understand this approach, it helps to look at the principles on which Ayurveda is built. According to Ayurveda, the human being was never understood as entirely separate from nature. The body is made up of the same fundamental elements that exist in the world around us. The food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the environment we live in are not external to our experience of health. They are constantly interacting with us. And perhaps this is why Ayurveda places so much importance on paying attention to the world around us. Our bodies do not exist in a vacuum. They respond to changes in temperature, seasons, food habits, activity, rest, and countless other things that we may not always notice. Of course, this doesn’t mean that every change in our health can be explained by our surroundings, or that we can resolve every problem by changing our lifestyle. But it does remind us that health is influenced by more than just the part of the body where a symptom appears. Another thing I find interesting is that Ayurveda doesn’t assume the same approach will work for everyone. We often look for universal solutions. The same diet, the same routine, the same supplement, the same advice, hoping that what worked for someone else will work just as well for us. Ayurveda encourages a more individualized way of looking at things. Two people might experience similar symptoms but have different underlying patterns, habits, and needs. Their constitutions, digestion, sleep, and responses to their environments may differ. So, while the symptom itself matters, understanding the person experiencing it matters too. This is where the classical concepts of Dosha, Dhatu, Mala, and Agni come into the picture. These are not simply terms to memorise or labels to assign to ourselves. They belong to a larger framework through which Ayurveda understands the functioning of the body. Each concept describes a different aspect of that functioning, but none of them can be understood entirely in isolation. And that, to me, is an important distinction. Learning a few Ayurvedic terms or identifying our Prakriti does not necessarily mean we understand Ayurveda. The concepts begin to make more sense when we understand how they relate to one another and how they fit into the broader principles of the system. The same applies to the way Ayurveda understands food and medicine. We often reduce a substance to a single quality: this food is good for you, that herb is beneficial, or this ingredient is something you should avoid. But Ayurveda considers several aspects when understanding how a substance may act on the body. Its taste, qualities, potency, and the changes it undergoes after digestion all contribute to that understanding. Some effects are also described as specific to a substance and not fully explained by those other properties alone. This is why simply memorizing that a particular herb is used for a particular condition can give us an incomplete understanding. The more interesting question is why it is used, in what context, and for whom. Ayurveda offers a way to think through these questions rather than treating every ingredient as though it has the same effect on every person. I also think it is worth paying attention to Ayurveda’s emphasis on prevention. A lot of our conversations around health begin only when something goes wrong. We look for a diagnosis, a treatment, or a way to get back to normal as quickly as possible. Ayurveda, however, also places importance on the ordinary things we do before illness develops: our daily habits, our relationship with food and rest, and the adjustments we make as our circumstances change. There is something quite practical about this idea. We may not be able to control every aspect of our health, but we can become more attentive to our habits and to the ways our bodies respond to them. Rather than following a routine simply because it is popular, we can begin by asking whether it suits our circumstances and whether it is actually helping us. At the same time, understanding Ayurveda does not mean accepting every traditional claim without question. Its concepts belong to a particular philosophical and medical tradition, and they should be understood in that context. Where claims concern the treatment or prevention of disease, they also need to be evaluated carefully against appropriate scientific evidence. Respecting a tradition and examining its claims critically are not mutually exclusive. For me, the most useful way to approach Ayurveda is to look beyond the individual remedies, routines, and recommendations we encounter so often. Those things may introduce us to the subject, but they are only one part of it. The principles behind them are what help us understand how the… Continue reading Understanding Ayurveda: A Way of Looking at Health

Principles of Ayurveda: What Everything Else Is Built On

Today, let’s go back to the very beginning. Before Doshas, before Agni, before all the specific topics we usually talk about, there is a bigger question. What is Ayurveda actually trying to do? Most people think of it as a system to treat disease and yes, it does that. But that is only half of it. Ayurveda comes from two Sanskrit words, Ayur meaning life and Veda meaning science. Therefore, Ayurveda translates to the science of life, and it cares just as much about keeping a healthy person healthy as it does about treating someone who is unwell. In the Indian way of thinking, life has four goals. Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. And none of these are possible if your body and mind are struggling. So, health was never the end goal, it was what made everything else possible. Now, to understand how Ayurveda looks at the body, you need to start with one idea. Pancha Mahabhuta. We experience the world through five senses. Sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell. Ayurveda says everything around us can be understood through five elements that go with these: Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi. Space, air, fire, water and earth. And this isn’t only about nature. Your body is made of these same elements, so is your food and so is your medicine. Even ordinary water isn’t just Jala. It carries all five, with one leading. This is why Ayurveda never saw the body and the world as two separate things. What is outside you keeps becoming what is inside you, through food, water and air. And when the balance shifts within, your body tries to correct it. It lets go of what is in excess and asks for what is lacking. In a way, that is what a craving really is. From these five elements come the three Doshas. Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Vata is mostly space and air. It is movement. Breathing, speaking, and everything in your body that needs to be pushed forward. Pitta is mostly fire. It is transformation. Digestion, forming blood, vision, memory, turning one thing into another. Kapha is mostly water and earth. It is moisture and stability. It softens food for digestion, helps you taste, and nourishes the senses. Something I always want people to understand is that these three are not sitting in separate corners of the body. They are everywhere but the concentration varies. Vata is mostly in the intestines and bones, Pitta is in the stomach and blood, Kapha in the chest and joints. When they are balanced, they hold you up. When they are disturbed, that is where disease begins. Then come the Dhatus, the seven tissues that form the body’s structure. Rasa, Rakta, Mamsa, Meda, Asthi, Majja and Shukra. Plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone, marrow and reproductive tissue. And this matters because Doshas don’t affect the body randomly. The Dhatus are the first place they act. So, when you look at how a disease really develops, it almost always passes through them. Which brings us back to Agni. The food you eat comes from outside. It is unfamiliar to your body, and it has to be broken down and made into something your body can use. Agni is what does that. But there is not just one Agni. There is the main digestive fire in the gut. There are five Bhutagnis that turn the elements in your food into elements your body recognises. And there are seven Dhatvagnis, one for each tissue, turning nutrients into that specific tissue, step by step. That is why Ayurveda treats Agni almost as the body itself. When someone comes in with a problem, a Vaidya often looks first at the state of their Agni. Because if that isn’t working well, nothing else will. Most Ayurvedic medicines are designed with this in mind. Now here is the part I find the most personal. Prakriti. Ayurveda believes every person is unique, and Prakriti is the reason. At the time of conception, the Doshas present decide your natural constitution. It could be Vata, Pitta, Kapha, a mix of two, or a balance of all three. And it stays with you for life. That is why Ayurveda says it treats the person, not the disease. Two people with the same illness may need very different treatment. Someone with a Vata Prakriti is more prone to Vata problems, so they are advised to avoid what aggravates Vata. A Pitta person is given cooling things. A Kapha person, warming things. And the mind is part of this too. Prakriti is also described through Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, because Ayurveda never saw disease as only physical. The mind affects the body, and the body affects the mind. Which is why even a physical illness sometimes comes with steps for the mind. Even medicines are understood this way. They carry the five elements as well, so Ayurveda looks at their taste, called Rasa, their qualities, called Guna, their potency, Virya, and their effect after digestion, Vipaka. And then there is something none of these can explain, the medicine’s special action, called Prabhava. Two medicines can be alike in every other way and still act differently because of this. Now, none of this is meant to be memorised in one sitting. But if you step back, you can see how it all connects. The elements make the Doshas. The Doshas affect the tissues. Agni keeps the whole thing running. Prakriti decides how all of it shows up in you and the same logic carries over to food, medicine and even the mind. That is what makes Ayurveda a system, and not just a collection of remedies. And I think that is the real takeaway. When you understand these basics, you stop seeing Ayurvedic advice as random rules, like eat this, avoid that. You… Continue reading Principles of Ayurveda: What Everything Else Is Built On

Why Your Body Isn’t Just “Tissues and Waste”

Most people, the moment they start reading about Ayurveda, land on this word, Dosha, almost immediately. Vata, Pitta, Kapha. And usually, the very first explanation they get is something like “Dosha means fault” or “Dosha means fluid,” and honestly, that explanation doesn’t help at all. If anything, it makes the whole thing feel more confusing than before you started. So let’s actually slow down and ask a more basic question first. What is the body even made of, according to Ayurveda? Before we even get to Dosha, there are two other categories worth understanding, Dhatu and Mala, because once you see how these three relate to each other, Dosha suddenly makes a lot more sense. Dhatu refers to everything in your body that’s meant to stay. Your blood, muscles, fat, bones, the fluid in your spinal cord, reproductive tissue, all of it. These are structurally very different from each other, obviously, but they share one thing in common, none of them are meant to leave your body under normal circumstances. When they do leave, by injury or bleeding or some other accident, your body doesn’t feel relieved. It feels depleted, anxious and weak. That’s the signature of a Dhatu, its presence sustains you, and its loss destabilizes you. Mala is the exact opposite category. This is everything your body is meant to get rid of, stool, urine, sweat, and so on. And here’s the interesting part, getting rid of these isn’t a failure of the body, it’s actually a sign of it working properly. Holding onto waste for too long doesn’t protect you, it burdens you. A Mala that overstays starts creating problems rather than preventing them. So while Dhatu is defined by staying, Mala is defined by leaving, and both, in their own way, keep the body functioning. Now here’s where it gets genuinely interesting, because Dosha doesn’t fit into either of these categories. It refuses to follow the rule. Think about saliva for a second. It’s produced inside your body, moves through your salivary glands, briefly steps outside the boundary of your internal tissue system into your mouth, and then re-enters your body as you swallow it along with your food. It doesn’t stay put like a Dhatu, and it doesn’t fully leave like a Mala either. It does something in between, and that “in between” behavior is exactly what defines a Dosha. It moves out into contact with the world, and then brings something back in, and this back-and-forth movement is precisely what makes digestion, absorption, and basically your entire relationship with the outside environment possible. This is such an important shift in how to think about Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. They’re not things that cause or lead up to a disease. They’re the functional bridges that let your body interact with everything you eat, breathe, and absorb from the world around you. Vata handles movement, what you take in. Pitta governs transformation, converting of one thing into another. Kapha manages binding, lubrication, and the way things hold together and connect. Without these three doing their job constantly, your Dhatus would never get built, and your Malas would never get properly separated out and removed. And here’s something that genuinely surprised me the first time I really understood it, this dual-direction movement of the Doshas happens twice a day, in the gastrointestinal tract specifically. If something you’re consuming regularly doesn’t actually suit your body, that excess starts getting expressed back out, sometimes as an unusually sour or pungent sensation, sometimes as a sweet, sticky feeling. This isn’t randomness, it’s your body’s own feedback system, quietly telling you that whatever you keep feeding it in excess isn’t being absorbed the way you assume it is. Most of us just don’t know how to read that signal. This is also why identifying someone’s Prakriti, their natural constitutional dominance of one or two Doshas, matters so much in how Ayurveda actually treats a person. Two people can eat the exact same meal and metabolize it completely differently, purely because their underlying Dosha balance is different. What nourishes one person can genuinely unsettle another. This is the entire logic behind why Ayurveda has never really believed in one-size-fits-all diet advice, it was never really about the food. It was always about how well your Doshas are managing the exchange between what’s outside you and what needs to become a part of you. So the next time someone tells you Dosha simply means “fault,” it’s worth remembering that it’s actually closer to the opposite. It’s not what goes wrong in the body. It’s the very mechanism that allows the body to keep working, keep exchanging, and keep staying alive in the first place. If ideas like this interest you, our courses on Charaka Samhita and Ashtanga Hridayam go much deeper into how Dosha, Dhatu, and Mala work together as the foundation of the entire Ayurvedic system.

Dinacharya in Ayurveda: The Art of Living in Rhythm With Your Body

What comes to your mind when you hear the word Dinacharya? You might think the words morning routine, right? And what does your morning routine include? Waking up early, brushing your teeth, scraping your tongue, drinking warm water, exercising, meditating, and perhaps some oil pulling. Then you begin your day feeling particularly disciplined. Yes, some of these practices are indeed part of the Ayurvedic approach to daily living, but Dinacharya is much bigger than this list of things that we do. It extends far beyond waking up and going to bed. Even the way we eat, the timing of our meals and the way food is prepared can influence how we experience our day-to-day health. I recently spoke about some of these in my new YouTube video, “5 Ayurvedic Eating Habits I Wish Everyone Knew | Part 1.” If you want to understand how everyday eating habits can be approached, I go into this in much more detail there. [Watch: 5 Ayurvedic Eating Habits I Wish Everyone Knew | Part 1] Ashtanga Hridayam has an entire chapter dedicated to Dinacharya, and Vagbhata begins the chapter with a very simple instruction: “Brahme muhurte uttishthēt.” Wake up during Brahma Muhurta. Now, what exactly is Brahma Muhurta? A Muhurta is a traditional unit of time, approximately 48 minutes. Brahma Muhurta refers to the period before sunrise, traditionally beginning two Muhurtas, or approximately 96 minutes, before sunrise and lasting for about 48 minutes. So, depending on the time of sunrise, it generally falls somewhere around 1.5 hours before sunrise. And there is a reason Ayurveda places such importance on this particular window. This is considered a time dominated by Vata, the Dosha associated with movement, lightness and subtle activity. It is the transition between night and day. The environment is quieter, there is less sensory stimulation, and the mind is considered to be more receptive and clear. The chapter then talks about Danta Dhavana, using twigs from specific trees like Arka, Nyagrodha, Khadira, and Karanja, chosen for tastes that are Kashaya (astringent), Katu (pungent), or Tikta (bitter). And it specifically mentions cleaning your teeth without hurting the gums, “dantamaamsaanyabaadhayan.” It’s such a small detail, but it tells you something important about how nothing is too minor to matter. Even your mouth, the very first point of contact between you and your food, gets its own careful instruction. The body is made up of all these small things, and the way you care for them every day eventually becomes part of your overall health. From Danta Dhavana, the text moves into Anjana, or the care of the eyes. Vagbhata recommends Sauviranjana as a daily practice for the eyes and mentions Rasanjana at intervals for cleansing. Again, what stands out to me is the attention to detail. The eyes are not treated as something separate from the rest of the body. They are another part of the body that needs regular care. And when you think about how much of our day today is spent looking at screens, this idea of simply paying attention to the condition of our eyes feels particularly relevant. Then comes Nasya, Gandusha, and Dhoomapana, with the use of Tambula. These practices belong to a very different medical context, and they should not simply be copied into a morning routine without understanding who they are intended for and under what circumstances. But what is interesting, and what I want to point out here, is how comprehensive the total idea of daily care was. From the mouth, nose, eyes, skin, the head, and all the senses, everything had a place in Dinacharya. There was an understanding that health was made up of all these systems that need to be cared for continuously. It was not about waiting for something to go wrong and then addressing it. And then we come to Abhyanga, which is one of the most recognisable practices today. Vagbhata says, “Abhyangam acharet nityam.” He recommended regular oiling of the body, emphasising particularly on the head, ears, and feet, and describing benefits related to the skin, vitality, strength and sleep. I have also made a detailed video about Abhyanga, if you wish to understand the practice in more detail. [Watch the video here.] Then finally comes Vyayama, or exercise. Exercise that is appropriate can bring lightness to the body, improve our capacity for work, support digestion and help reduce excess fat. But we must understand that exercise is not the same for everybody, and it is certainly not meant to be excessive. Vagbhata actually gives detailed instructions about who should exercise, how much they should exercise and when exercise should be avoided. He says that exercise should be done up to approximately half of one’s capacity, rather than pushing the body beyond what it can comfortably tolerate. And I think this is an important distinction. And Dinacharya doesn’t just stop with the physical body. This is where I find the chapter particularly interesting, because Vagbhata gradually moves from taking care of your body to how you conduct yourself. He speaks about using words that are truthful, measured and pleasant: “Kāle hitam mitam brūyād avisaṃvādi peśalam.” Speak at the right time. Speak what is beneficial, measured, truthful and pleasant. He speaks about compassion, generosity, humility and how we should conduct ourselves even when dealing with people who may not treat us well in return. And this tells us something important about what Ayurveda actually meant by health. It was never only about physical health. The way you conduct yourself is also part of your well-being. The way you speak, the way you behave, the conflicts that you create, the anger you hold on to, and the way you treat other people all become part of the environment in which your body and mind have… Continue reading Dinacharya in Ayurveda: The Art of Living in Rhythm With Your Body